T is for

Hello Ladies, Happy T Day, my drink related photo this week is our breakfast place on the Marina, you can see we had already finished by the time I remembered to take a photo,

You can see the tables are spaced out and no one around as we left home before 8 am so not too many people about although as lockdown eases it’s getting busier, that worries me as we will soon be getting visitors from outside of Murcia, we have been virus free for about three weeks now so I think people are getting complacent, they don’t walk to the side sometimes when we pass, quite annoying as we walk in single file, the shops are still being careful, in fact I saw a spanish man sent out for not wearing a mask, another was asked where his mask was, oh in his pocket, really!

This is a road near our house, these trees are beautiful when the flowers are out but unfortunately they only last a short time, they are a pretty colour though. I believe they are called Jacaranda Trees. this year they seemed to have bloomed everywhere!

I have been doing my scrap pages and making cards for the Alpha Challenge, the first one E for exercise. I printed the BG and pieces for the decoupage, I think it's from an old La Pashe CD from years back,

The second card Just chilling, was for J, sometimes it's a small link to the letter!!! I found the image in an envelope when I was tidying my craft room shelves!

We've been doing one job per day, my job last week was to fix a leak on one of the steps leading under the villa, the rain water has been getting through from under the path, it's not high enough to use the space down there so we only had spare tiles under there, I also tiled the one step and the front and sides while I was down the hole, unfortunately I then couldn't step on the newly laid tiles, Steve tried to pull me out, in the end I had to get my foot on the narrow ledge and with Steve's help managed to pull myself out, not a pretty sight I can tell you, he told me afterwards that there was a massive spiders web with a giant spider down there, he knew I wouldn't go down there if I had known. LOL

I guess that's all my news for this week, nothing too exciting!

hope you are all keeping safe and well, Jan x

T is for Two New Grand Doggies

Hello Ladies , T Day once again, the last week seems to have past very quickly, after our morning walk we have been doing one job per day

I've been up on the roof of the shed painting the metal rejas over the ensuite window, that took two days because when we thought we had finished we went inside and realised how much we had missed from the other side, we have a fixed fly screen so we can't paint it from inside, the next day Steve was telling me where to paint from inside!! no easy task as it has swirls and curls all over the place. so trying to guess where he meant was hard going and I was in the hot sun!

Trying to get down was scary too as I didn't have anything to hold on to as it was all wet paint, the paint brush was stuck to my plastic glove and Steve is stood there holding the ladder telling me to let go and hold his hand, ha, ha no way, eventually he came half way up the ladder to help me.

Our Grandsons have been very excited as last weekend they collected their new puppies, our eldest DGS called his pup Freya after a Greek god and the younger DGS called his Millie! I was talking to our son on my iPad when my iPhone started ringing, it was our eldest GS calling me from the Garage, he wanted me to see the pups, he’s very excited and is taking his duties as puppy owner very seriously. The younger one said he's not sure he's as interested in puppies as his brother, that didn't take him long to realise it's hard work!

This is where we walked this morning, well most days, it's a Fiesta today, Murcia Day so it was quite busy even at 8.15 am when we arrived. we sit here as it's half way and admire the views, we usually come to this end with the family, just away from the rocks, it's less busy and near the car park, saves carrying all the gear needed when you have the GSs with you. It's very shallow until you get quite a long way out which is good for the youngest. They like to look between the rocks as there's very often small fish.

Sadly their flights have been cancelled , they should have been arriving next week for two weeks, we have also had to cancell our flights to see them in October as we have been told our travel insurance won't cover us for the virus, I'm not sure anyone thinking of booking to go to another country this summer have actually thought about this, We are still waiting to get a voucher from BA, fingers crossed we actually get one that we can use next year.

You can see the lighthouse on the left, the building with the white wall to the right is actually a cafe bar, it is on all different levels with tables on all levels with beautiful views, it has a small swimming pool at the bottom .

As you can see our family love to come up here for a drink when they are over in summer, the cafe is only during the summer months, not sure about this year though! Things are slowly getting back to normal although we are being super careful as people seem to forget they should keep their distance on the seafront, we seem to be the only ones dodging round everyone.

Thank you to everyone who came over for a visit last week, sorry to anyone I missed, I tried to visit everyone but I was confused by the double posts, thanks Elizabeth for linking me up!

Until next time, Take care everyone and stay safe Jan x

T for Tostada con Tomate

Good Morning Ladies, Happy T Day, the weather is beautiful here, rather hot when we have any jobs to do but a quick dip in the pool afterwards is always refreshing.

Last Sunday we went down to Bolneuvo for our walk and breakfast, Tomatoes on Toast, a dibble of Olive Oil, sprinkling of Pepper, delicious and A cup of Flower of Jamaica coffee!

This is the view from our table,

We extended our walk along the seafront, a five minute sit on the bench and then back down the paseo for breakfast, around the campsite and back to the car, it's a couple of miles and lovely views. While we were taking a five minutes break we were watching a man trimming the palm trees, the building behind him is a two storey building.

I love the way they chop them so the round bit below the leaves looks like a pineapple, he was just tied on with a line but you can see how he leans back and bearing in mind he has a chain saw hanging from his belt!!!

The Paseo, lots more people opening their holiday villas this week.

Bolneuvo is famous for the Sand sculptures, made by erosion from the wind and rain. Believe it or not people climb on them to take selfies, one part, you can just see to the right hand side a flat piece balancing on the top, that has fallen while Lockdown has been going on so it's all roped off as some fell on to the Car Park!

I thought this might make you smile, we see this lady on the other Paseo at the main beach, always makes me smile as she always takes her dogs for a walk, an unusual way to exercise them don't you think!! Taking three of them out in her shopping trolley.

I made this card for a challenge, it was suppose to be to use splats and sprinkles but when I went to post it I realised it was supposed to be a CAS card, hardly that but it's another card for my stash. I enjoyed messing with brushos but it ended up too dark so I sprinkled Gold Micra poweer on too, I die cut the TH Apothecary Bottles with some acetate that has bits in it, never used the die before even though I had it for some years, I used the poppy die to make the flowers, tied some gold beading around it with a tag, it took me two days to finish it!

Hope you are all well and keeping safe, you could almost think nothing had happened here apart from seeing people in masks, I must admit it scares me a little but people are keeping their distance although one lady in the supermarket was told off at the check out for going to close to the man paying, maybe she didn't see the great big orange strips on the floor!! some people, LOL Have a Happy T Day. Jan x

Friday Smiles

Hello Ladies, life seems to be going really fast now we are allowed a little more freedom, our region of Murcia have had no new cases and we have been told the last person has left hospital, that’s great news, Spain only had one death yesterday too, thank goodness, it’s so sad that so many people had died, Spain are having ten days of mourning for those who have lost their lives, our flags are all at half mast.

we are allowed out at any time and leave our Urbanización, that is wonderful. We now walk every morning, we do our shopping on the way home, in the port shopping seems very strict but more relaxing, no lines and not many people inside as all shops have gone back to normal working hours, still 2 metres apart, still masks, gloves and sanitizers at the door, I feel more relaxed, instead of rushing and getting home all shaky from the stress of it all.

Sunday we went to the smaller beach hoping it wouldn’t be too busy, most people walking were careful but some still won’t keep to the side so we were doing a zig zag along the seafront.

This is the view along the Paseo, a lot of the houses are empty, it surprised us as we thought most people lived here but obviously not seeing as only a handful had anyone in them , this weekend will be different as we are allowed to move around but only in Murcia so I’m guessing many will come down for a visit.

This is a restaurant where normally have tapas but they don’t open until 9.30am so too late for us, we are coming out early to avoid the late risers. They have a lovely garden and massive inside area where they have a BBQ area. Our family love to go there when they come over as they do a good selection of Tapas.

This is the view from the restaurant, there’s some lovely house overlooking the beach and sea, we would need to win the lottery to buy one though.

My biggest smile today is that it is our 49th Wedding Anniversary, not sure where all the years have gone, It’s also our sons 5 th wedding anniversary today, it was funny when he said he was getting married, we said how nice that they were getting married on the same day, our son said, is it really, LOL, Steve was looking on google to find out what anniversary it was for 5 years, apparently it’s wood, our son said no problems we have a wood shed full of it, our DIL shouted it’s not wood it’s fish and chips, Steve sent over the money to pay for the fish and chips and a bottle of wine, we aren’t going out, we still don’t feel safe but we will be have lamb steaks, scalloped potatoes with salad, I’ve made a butterscotch tart, we know how to celebrate, ha,ha,

Hope you all have a lovely weekend, keep safe, a quick funny that our DIL send this morning.

Jan x

T is for trouble with the Pool

Hello ladies, summer has arrived in Spain, at last, normally the first of April the thermostat turns up to hot, this year has been pretty dismal especially as we had eight weeks of total lockdown. I started this post for last week but just totally forgot what day it was until late Tuesday. The whole week was pretty busy for some reason.

Our first outing out of lockdown , we had a lovely morning, after dropping the car off we walked down into the port and along the beach.

This is a rubber tree, you can see how big it is compared to the car driving down the road, it’s even got a palm tree growing through it, the roots have pushed up through the pavement.

we stopped at the bakery for croissants meaning to eat them sat on the seafront but we know the lady at the bakery and as soon as we ordered the croissants she said, dos cafe con Lethe, Steve straight away said yes please, I’m panicking and thinking nooooo! We had agreed before leaving home that we wouldn’t eat or drink out so I had carried two bottles of water! We were the only ones there and I must admit it felt so good to sit in the shade looking at the beach, she told us they haven’t earned any money for eight weeks, it’s such a shame,

We walked down to the marina, around the block and down to see our friends at the pharmacy, they were all pleased to see us, asked about the family and all the ladies came out to say hello, what a difference to the pharmacy on our Urbanización, they really aren’t friendly at all.

I tried five stationers, four closed, the only one open didn’t have ant photo paper but walking back to the garage we passed the phone shop, they had some although it was expensive but now I’ve managed to carry on with my photo journals I’ve been making. I've actually made five pages in the last three days!

Thursday afternoon I had so much fun, I joined a zoom chat with I think fourteen ladies altogether from Splitcoaststampers, Sharon (Foxystamper) joined too, one lady from Australia, one from Canada and the others from various parts of the USA, all on different time zones, some even got up at 6am so we call all meet up, there was a lot of chatter but it was fun meeting all the ladies at last. We were supposed to be crafting! Some of the ladies did manage to combine chatting with crafting and one lady made several dolls from Handkerchiefs, they are so pretty, she intends to give them away, she wanted to visit the care home but obviously isn’t allowed for the moment.

Steve made us a lovely Pork Pie salad as I was busy chatting up in my craft room so we had a late dinner, it was delicious!

Since then I’ve chatter with one friend in Australia, we did get some crafting done and it was good to share ideas.

We now go to the Paseo every day to walk, usually we are there by 8.30am before it gets busy, today they are opening the beaches with restrictions, mmmmm that’s going to be interesting we are supposedly only allowed in our own region for now but shopping centres and larger shops can open. I pleased that they are still strict about shopping, face masks must be worn, hand sanitizer and gloves given out, they even have a guard on the door at one supermarket, makes me feel safer but they seem to let more people in so it’s a case of dodging the shoppers!

This mug has a photo of Woolwich Barracks on it, Steve did his army training there and a friend who's son lives near there bought it for Steve many years ago, it's never used of course but it's a memento of his time in the Army.

Hope you are all keeping safe, We are having the skimmers fixed on the pool, a massive hole has been dug at the end of the pool so the whole garden is a mess but at least they have found the problem, a pipe had collapsed and folded up so nothing could go through it, dred to think what the bill will be but it had to be done, looking forward to them finishing so we can go walking again but he hasn't even turned up yet at 9.10am and was supposed to arrive at 8am, pretty annoying!!

Happy T Day

Jan x

T is for More Tin painting

Hello ladies of the T gang, another week has past, a little more interesting now we are walking although we only go around the block so not too exciting but this morning was Steve's Blood appointment to check his levels, we walked over to the doctors, I had to wait outside, they took his temperature, good, his levels were perfect and he managed to get the doctor to sign my e prescription so I can get some as it ran out while we were in the UK, we would usually stop to have breakfast at a restaurant across the road from our house, it was open but it's far too early to risk it for us I'm afraid much as I would love a Cafe con leche (similar to a latte)

We will do the same at 1pm to collect his new schedule for the blood thinners, made a change from walking around the block but tomorrow is our first outing off our urbanizacion. I have a list of things we need while we are down in the Port while we are waiting for the car.

Saturday morning Steve spotted this butterfly on a gate as we were walking around, I've never seen on like it as it had four wings, I thought it was two, mating but no it was just one.

I also spent most of Saturday painting the other two tins, I really enjoyed myself, I was covered in stains and ink by the end but it was fun. The first one I had already painted the top but I finished the sides. On all the sides I used the left over parts from the TH die cut, I glued them all around the edges, painted them and then used a spray before wiping over with treasure silver wax.

This one has Christmas paper on it, not thrilling but I thought I would use it rather than something I would use later, I also glued the red and white paper around the edge but then decided to use the zigzag ribbon, I've had it for years but the gold isn't a good colour so I thought that could be used too. More stash used!

The last one I glued die cuts on the top, TH Scrollwork, I used the pieces from the centres to stick around the sides again, painted it all white and then dropped some brushos on to the wet paint, moved it around with a paint brush and then dropped some beads and micra flakes for texture the rubbed it all over with distress silver paint and then silver wax.

We also had Fresh Mackerel for dinner with Salad, delicious, Steve does make a great salad with avocado, I had to google the spelling as I think of it as aquacate, the Spanish spelling. The funny shaped piece near my potatoes is the Roe from the fish, Steve gave me that bit to try, not a bad taste but I don't like the texture of it.

These earthenware bottles have Snaps in them, we met a German lady when we were living in our caravan twenty years ago, her husband bought them over and gave them to Steve, they've been in cupboard all those years! I always forget when the boys come over to get them out for them to try. Steve used to love a glass of snaps with a beer when we lived in Germany but he doesn't drink alcohol any more due to all the meds he takes. So does anyone know if it goes off, I wouldn't like to poison our sons, they have never been opened!

Well see you all next week, hopefully, we are off to back to the Salud, take care ladies and Happy T Day

Jan x

Friday smiles

Friday again and the end of our eighth week of lockdown, I hope you are all still well and coping, I’ve made enough birthday and Christmas cards to last about three years I think! We are only allowed out to walk in our own area so we are just walking around our Poligono, five times is almost two miles, I managed 9946 steps yesterday, after our walk I went shopping so my steps were higher than normal, it's all that backtracking I have to do to find things I haven't bought for a long time!!

The nearest houses from our road.

The roundabout or Glorietta as they call them here at the end of our road, the residents have planted all the trees and flowers on it.

the good news is from Monday we can now travel in the car together, not sure why we couldn’t before seeing as we live together!

We have the car booked in for it's first service, by appointment only so we can walk down to the beach and finally do some shopping at the English shop, it's amazing, it only sells Tesco brand although it's not called Tesco's. I'm hoping they may have flour and Domestos, the Spanish bleach just isn't the same! I've also run out of photo paper for my travel journal so I'm hoping the stationers will be open.

Since Our neighbour found us some cola blanca,( grout), Steve has dug out all the tiles that had lifted with all the rain cleared out the old cement and I’ve re laid them, it’s looking so much better now.

A couple of funnies that our DIL sent me, There are some great jokes going around to cheer us all up.

I’m not saying that our son is worn out keeping our four year old GS amused but he sent this photo, the title was day 874 of lockdown, that was on week five, LOL

I managed to get some Spanish flour last week and was looking for a recipe to use some bananas that were getting too ripe, I spotted a recipe for old fashioned Butterscotch Pie, I though I would make it and slice the bananas on the top. It turned out great and I cut us both a slice, after we had eaten it I realised I didn’t put the sliced bananas on the top. It really is absolutely delicious but a little goes a long way!

I guess that's all I have to report for this week, not a lot going on but hopefully next week I will have some photos of the beach!! Can't wait. Stay safe everyone, until next time!

Jan x